"Green" Jetta TDI beats the rest!

[cetane]

I'll probably go to gaol for posting this link (according to Reuters copyright notice)...but here goes anyway:

[URL="http://www.xe.com/news/detail.htm;jsessionid=E1F7FC812CC492F413D8946748D8 8CAD?articleId=84093"[/URL]

A couple of interesting things are written. One is the price of the car. It doesn't say what level of trim etc. you get for your money. Do the exchange rate calc. @ 0.62 USD/AUD and it comes in at AUD27,400 which is considerably cheaper than the same car here. Next, the article says that diesel is <USD1.00 more than petrol in some parts of the US (?) Also, they're sold out! What a turn around for the US car consumer! (Although 30,000 units in the big pond of US car sales is only a bowlful.)

[mollins]

here is the link

[gldgti]

i dont know about a turnaround..... diesels have been popular in the US for a long time - at least thats the impression i get from the proliference of older vw diesels they have (from the VW GTD forum) and their HUGE market for diesel "trucks" like the powerstroke fords, dodge/cummins etc. - i think possibly its less of a step for people in hte US to go out and buy a diesel htan it is for most aussie's anyway

good news though certainly

[Transporter]

Yes, that's very truth. Negative attitudes against diesel are unique to this continent and many people will never get over it, they will die with it and never know what they missed out.

[cetane]

This article's a little out of date (2007) however it shows that the US car buyer is seriously considering diesels.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m..._6/ai_94765898

And yes....diesel cars have been around in the US for a long time, sparked by the VW Rabbit and Dasher diesels of the '70s and the VW powered Volvos (not to mention Merc 240 and 300Ds) of the 70's and 80's, however as a proportion of total car (not SUV) sales diesels have had only a small penetration into the market. It was the oil shocks of the time that first got diesel sales going however the cheap oil of the '80s and '90s slackened sales considerably. Actually, in its time the Rabbit was one of the least-polluting cars around and easily met the (then) Californian emission criteria.

[gldgti]

they even made an exception for it in california - the NOx emissions of the original golf/jetta/rabbit diesels were higher than stipulated to pass emissions, but since ALL other emissions were so much lower, they allowed it to go without a catalytic converter.

[gregozedobe]

Yes, that's very truth. Negative attitudes against diesel are unique to this continent and many people will never get over it, they will die with it and never know what they missed out.

Mind you, with diesel currently costing 38c a litre more than ULP it will be difficult to convince lots of people to change over

[Greg Roles]

True my Skoda driving buddy, but there aren't many cars you can put $50 in and the range gives you 600kms..... even if it IS optimistic.

I NEVER grow tired of that....

[Transporter]

Mind you, with diesel currently costing 38c a litre more than ULP it will be difficult to convince lots of people to change over

I know... but 8 or 9 years ago there was no difference in diesel price and diesel cars were not imported to OZ.

[gregozedobe]

I know... but 8 or 9 years ago there was no difference in diesel price and diesel cars were not imported to OZ.

IIRC correctly about 12 years or so ago that was the case, as that was when I bought my first diesel (Landcruiser 4WD). Pretty soon after that diesel started to cost about 4c litre more than ULP (on average), then slowly crept up over the next 3-4 years to be around 10-15c a litre dearer most of the time.

I'm hoping the current 38c differential is a short term aberration, and over the next 12-18 months the supply of diesel will catch up with demand, leading to a long term reduction in price at the retail bowser.

The scary thing is that based on the greatly reduced price of oil on the international market, ULP should be a fair bit cheaper than what we are currently being charged, so what does that say about current profit levels on diesel !